


The Words of The Marked

by misunderstood_writings



Category: Original Work
Genre: Demons, Drinking, F/M, Gen, Gods, Multi, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Smoking, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:40:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28812834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misunderstood_writings/pseuds/misunderstood_writings
Summary: Life for Aries had been as normal as it could be, go to work, get his job done, go home. However, when his boss has a new assignment for him that's different than any other he's had, a wrench is thrown into his daily routine. Will he be able to get the job done or will he barely make it out alive?
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

Aries Dagon, he was never one for trivial conversation, choosing to cut to the chase rather than discuss the lesser details. This applied to almost everything in his life; relationships, his job, everything. He was strictly a no bullshit kind of guy. And he liked it that way. However, at this moment, he was currently dealing with an issue where one of the superiors was being inappropriate to their subordinate and was currently trying to ramble their way out of it. Aries ran a hand through his ebony hair and leaned back in his chair as he listened. The man on the other side of his desk spewing something about how he swore his subordinate wanted it and was begging for it. Aries ran the hand that was rested atop his head down his face, resting on his chin and his thumb idly stroking the end of his scar that stopped just below his prominent cheekbones.

It was a bit of a habit he had when he was bored or anxious, the feeling of raised skin occupying his mind at least momentarily. The man opposite him had spoke up, pulling him out of his thoughts, not having heard exactly what he’d said Aries made a noise of acknowledgement, showing that he was now listening. The man repeated himself, “How’d you get that scar, Mr. Dagon?”

“Why does it matter? We were speaking about your affair with,” He stopped as he looked at the file on his desk, “Mr. Connolly. Most notably, how you were sure that he had wanted it and was, in your own words, “practically begging to get with someone like you”.” Aries furrowed his brows into a look of disgust, reading through the file and seeing exact quotes this man had made was sickening. Giving him another once over, he came to the conclusion that he really shouldn’t be too shocked. The man in front of him was sleazy, not particularly known for getting things done properly or even getting them done at all. “Normally I’d ask the typical questions such as “how do you feel about your actions”, “what do you think drove you to make this decision”, and the like.”

Aries leaned forward and set his forearms on the desk separating the two men, folding his hands over the file laid out in front of him. He made direct eye contact with him, not even bothering to blink, adding to the intimidation the man already felt from him. Yet he decided to feign courage and speak up. “You think staring at me is gonna get me to fold? I didn’t lie a single word, the twink wanted it. Little tease he is, he put you up to this didn’t he?”

“Mr. Wilson, I’m not attempting to get you to fold. I’m attempting to get you to understand how grave of a mistake you have made with your misconduct in the workplace. My superiors have informed me of what to do if a situation with you were to occur more than once.” Aries began to explain, taking a deep breath and attempting to convey the seriousness of the situation. He picked up the file and leafed through a few pages, leaning back in his chair to show he was relaxed and confident in his control of the situation. “Simply skimming through your file has shown me that this isn’t your first incident. As a matter of fact, it’s your third this month. Strange I haven’t seen you around more then.”

“I ain’t been down here my entire job. The rest of ‘em liked how I was treatin’ ‘em.” Aries nodded solemnly, pretending as if he knew exactly how it felt to be in his position. He set the file back down on the desk and the man across from him lit up, figuring they were done with the meeting he stood up and stuck out his hand.   
  
“Sit down, Mr. WIlson.” The man looked confused, his expression then turning sour. Getting ready to say something before Aries stood up, placing his palms on the desk and looking down his nose at him. Towering over him by at least six inches. “I said, sit. Down.” He watched as the man shrunk into his seat, slightly in fear of the larger man in front of him. There was no doubt that Aries could take himself in a fight, he just preferred to keep things orderly and clean in the workplace. “Thank you, now, shall we discuss your punishment for these actions?” 

“But-”   
  
“Your employment will be terminated as of nine thirty tomorrow morning, you have until then to get your affairs in order. After termination you will not be allowed to set foot in this building without being escorted out by security.” Aries watched the fear and panic finally settle over the man’s features, taking a bit of joy in seeing him squirm like this. He wouldn’t let him know but, the punishment was entirely up to him. His superiors had just told him that something needed to be done about his recurring behavior. “Am I understood?”

“Yessir.”

“Good, now I want you to get out of my sight.” Aries said pointedly with a dismissal wave of his hand. He watched as the other man scampered away, any dignity he had going out the window. Aries was ruthless when it came to these kinds of things. He stopped at nothing to remove the problem to keep order in the workplace. Just as he was putting away the file, one of the other HR reps came in to speak with him. “Yes? What is it, what do you want?”   
  
“Sir, there’s someone here to see you. He didn’t give me his name but he insists it’s important.” Aries eyed the woman cautiously, almost well aware of who it was. He thought he had told him not to arrange for things in his workplace, there was a distinct line between his two jobs and he wanted to keep it that way. 

“Tell him I won’t keep him waiting for much longer.” Aries said as he stood up and straightened out his suit, making sure everything sat properly. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself and opened the door that separated his office from the rest of the department. When he looked to see his “boss” he couldn’t find him. Instead he found his brother, Dionysus. Any anxieties he had about meeting with his “boss” had melted and became feelings of annoyance towards his brother. Before he had the chance to turn around and go back into his office, he had already been seen. 

“Hey Aries, wait a damn minute. I’ve got something to tell you.” Dionysus said before briskly walking over to his brother. He crossed his arms and let out a huff of annoyance at his brother not wanting to speak with him. He was a bit taller than Aries and more tanned. His size didn’t dwarf him but it did make him look smaller than he really was. “Your ex, the blonde one-”

“Athena?” Aries filled in, seeing his brother nod in confirmation. “What about her?” 

“She’s been getting pissed that you aren’t returning her calls, so much that she’s been calling  _ me _ expecting me to get you to call her back.” Aries’s face couldn’t have shown less amusement than it did at that moment. Dionysus was well aware that he was being a burden to his brother and continued on, it was something akin to a pastime of his. “Let’s take this to your office, yeah?”

The two men walked into the office, Aries sitting down behind his desk almost immediately, the look on his face not having changed at all. “I know you’re not here just to talk about my ex, what do you want?”

“I want you to wake up and realize that what you’re doing is bad, and wrong.” His brother stated plainly, leaning up against the door in favor of sitting in the chair across from him. He looked down for a moment and sighed. “Is there anything that would bring you back from the path you chose?”

“No. And you cannot change my mind about this, Dionysus. We all have paths we need to follow, and this is mine.” Aries crossed his arms and glared at Dionysus, not wanting to hear his spiel for the nth time. He had told him multiple times that he didn’t approve of what he was doing, but he didn’t care. It didn’t directly affect him and it never would. Aries made sure of that. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do. Not that you’d understand what that is.”

Dionysus took that as his cue to leave, not wanting to piss off his brother any further. It was always a hard pill to swallow that Aries would never be the same as he was all those years ago, but that wouldn’t stop Dionysus from trying.


	2. Chapter 2

Most days, Aries would’ve come home with a sense of relaxation and accomplishment from having done a long day’s work. Today, however, was different. He didn’t feel at ease, he felt anxious, worried about what he could possibly have to deal with from his boss. Perhaps he’d found out he hadn’t followed his orders to a t. Perhaps he had a rather laborious task for him, he knew that he didn’t like doing dirty work.

He turned on the light as he entered his apartment, almost exhausted at what he’d done that day. Though it wasn’t that he effectively fired a man, moreso that he had been anxious all day. Not even his usual smoke break had calmed his nerves, odd, they always seemed to do the trick. He set down his briefcase and went to grab a tumbler for his whiskey. He didn’t bother putting any ice in it, he wasn’t doing it for pampering reasons, he was doing it for some form of relief from the feelings he was having. 

His home life wasn’t terrible, incredibly boring, but not terrible. Aries found it to be quite comforting, the sense of repetition being soothing to him. It was nice to have something being relatively predictable in the mess of a life he had. Although, in a way, everything was predictable to him. Or at least, it would be eventually. As he threw back the glass of whiskey he felt the slight burn down his throat that he had come to enjoy after years of drinking. If anyone asked, he would say he didn’t have a substance abuse issue, or that he was dependent on it, rather it was an occasional assist. 

“Back on the drinking again, Aries?”

The sudden speech made him jump and drop his glass. Looking down upon it in disappointment, he’d have to sweep that up later. He turned around to see Fane, his boss, standing in the living room. His presence almost suffocating Aries. It was a feeling he’d never grown accustomed to and he figured he wouldn’t anytime soon. Yet despite his overwhelming presence there was something alluring about him, something that made Aries want to know him more personally. He wasn’t sure what it was and he wasn’t sure if he liked it. “What do you want?”

“Now darling, is that any way to talk to your superior?” Fane said walking closer to him, looking him in the eye. Now Aries wasn’t a short man, he was taller than most, but Fane’s height almost made him look below average. What Aries lacked in height, he made up for in muscle mass compared to Fane. Fane could’ve been described as very lithe, whereas Aries had more tone to him. Aries hung his head and shook it, not trusting himself to come off as more annoyed and risking his already questionable relationship with his boss. “Good, now, I have a contract for you.”

“At this hour?”

“From a newer client, they contacted us and informed us that they need a target eliminated.” Fane explained, walking away and turning to look out the window that overlooked the city. Aries watched with mild contempt, he had just gotten home and now has to go on another job. Fane folded his hands behind his back as he looked out the window with disdain, a grimace evident on his sharp features. His blonde hair given slight different hues from the city lights below. “All of the needed information is in the packet next to you.” 

Aries picked it up and flitted through it similarly to the way he had done with Mr. Wilson’s file earlier that day. Something about the contract needing to be eliminated in the most sadistic way possible, Aries could do that. Upon further inspection he found that they were half way across town, that might cause some problems. He checked the watch on his wrist, 5:32. As much as he deigned doing contracts at this time at such a far distance, it did have it’s perks. Namely that it would be harder to catch him in the act by anyone he knew he’d left his apartment. 

“Pathetic.”   
  
“What is?” Aries asked, not sure what his boss was talking about.

“Humans live like this, droning on day in and day out, without a care in the world. Their lives almost like grains of sand on a beach, blissfully unaware that they’ll be swept away by the waves of time.” Aries set down the packet back on the counter, folding his arms over his chest and listening to Fane’s cynical rant about humanity. “There are so few that don’t understand the true potential that they have. And even fewer that will actually seize the potential.” 

In all honesty, he couldn’t care less about his boss’s outlook on life. If he had the courage, he would’ve told him to shut up, but he rather enjoyed living. Just as he was about to check the time again so he could time his boss’s ramblings, he turned around, getting his attention almost immediately. He stood in fear of what his boss was planning on doing to him. He hoped that he hadn’t known that he wasn’t paying attention. Once Fane reached him, he grabbed ahold of Aries’s tie and wound it around his hand, rendering the shorter man immobile.

“You, however, were just bright enough to figure it out.” Aries swallowed thickly, the tension between the two of them unlike anything he had ever felt before. It wasn’t unpleasant. Before Aries had another moment to question what Fane was going to do to him, he was let go. The taller man said not another word before walking out the front door, leaving his subordinate confused and dazed. 

Aries left to get the broom to sweep up the almost forgotten glass that was on the floor. As he made his way to the closet he was left with thoughts of how he planned on executing the contract and his feelings about his boss. There was obviously something there but given that he had felt this way about him ever since he met him, he brushed it off as just some weird gut feeling. 

As for how he would take out the contract, he figured he’d need to get some equipment, or he could just use psychological tactics he’d learned over the years to make them squirm under his boot. Of course he’d need to change clothes, he wouldn’t want to be seen in something like this for a contract. Then he would run himself a nice hot shower, and head to bed. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight warning for minor gaslighting and death, essentially murder

Like any job Aries did, it was always done meticulously. He allowed for no snags in his plans to be caught. Arriving at the location of his current contract was just the first step. The first actual issue he’d have to deal with was getting into the contract’s room. Aries liked to consider himself a smart man, smart enough to get past a receptionist at a hotel anyway. When he found out that she had holed herself up in a hotel, any ideas of physical torture were out the window. 

The ambiance of the hotel was nicer than most, incredibly bright with white marble floors. Aries stepped up to the front desk and put on his best act. “Excuse me, miss? I’m afraid I lost the room key for my girlfriend’s room. Do you happen to have a spare?”

The woman at the desk looked up uninterestedly from her computer over her glasses. “Mhm, and what might the room number be?” 

“Five oh five.” 

She typed on the computer for a minute. “Name?”

“Hm?”

“Who’s name is the room registered under?” Aries took a few seconds to think, recalling the name on the contract. 

“Maria Smith.” She nodded and dug around in the front desk a bit. Aries thought fast before she could do anything that would cause any problems, he cleared his throat and spoke once more, his voice laced with a demonic seduction, “If you would actually just hand me the key, she’s not supposed to know I’m visiting her. It’s a surprise.” 

When she turned to grab the spare key off the hook, her eyes glazed over and acting through his words alone. He felt slightly better about using his influence over her when he wasn’t entirely lying to her. It was a bit of a surprise but not one many people would expect. Certainly not one Maria would expect. If there was one part of this job that Aries enjoyed it was interactions such as this. It reminded him and any others who would care to pay attention that he had more power than them, that he was better than them.

As he waited for the elevator to reach the fifth floor, he put on some medical grade latex gloves. If he didn’t want himself getting caught, as if he had in the past, and potentially ruining everything he had going for himself. When the chime rang signaling that he was on his floor, he stepped out. His eyes immediately went to the room numbers, if he had accidentally eliminated the wrong person it could be disastrous. Upon approaching it, he thought for a moment, if doing this was really worth it. He shook the thought from his head, why was he having second thoughts now of all times? He’d been doing this for years and hadn’t had a problem, so why now?

He unlocked the door with the key and stepped inside, initially finding no one around. On further inspection he found that the bathroom door was closed. So she must be in there, unsuspecting, such a shame. Aries moved to sit on the edge of the bed in the room, crossing one of his legs over the other. He took a moment to check the time on his watch once more. It had only been an hour since he had left. Something about waiting for his victim to come out of the bathroom made him feel somewhat close to her. Almost as if he was a doting boyfriend waiting for her to come out and let him take her for a night on the town. 

That wasn’t on the agenda for tonight, though. Perhaps if he had gotten to know her, he might like her in some sense of the word. The sound of the door opening grabbed his attention and his head snapped towards that direction, his hair moving gently from the quick movement. He watched with baited breath as Maria stepped out. She seemingly hadn’t noticed him, moving to go directly to the dresser in front of him instead. Grabbing a pair of shorts out of the top drawer. He stood up to stand directly behind her, making almost no noise save for the ruffling of the sheets as he adjusted his weight. 

When Maria turned around she inhaled sharply, shocked at the sight of the man in front of her. “Who- who are you?” She stuttered out, “D-don’t make me mace you.”

“Oh sweetheart, mace won’t do a thing.” Aries chuckled condescendingly, placing his hands on either side of her waist on the dresser, effectively caging her between himself and the furniture. He could see the fear in her eyes, it was pleasing, a sight he rather enjoyed. “And just to make sure you don’t go thinking you can escape…” A snap of his fingers locked the door, she turned to the door and back to him, a look of confusion clear as day on her face. “I can assure you, you won’t be able to unlock it. I know, I know, it’s a manual lock that in theory you should be able to undo from the inside, right?”

Maria nodded hesitantly, not sure if she should play along with the man in front of her or really try to make a break for it. He removed his left hand from the dresser and motioned for her to attempt. Being the panic stricken woman she was, she decided to bolt for it, calling his bluff on the door. She grasped the lock with her entire palm and felt a searing pain, letting out an ear piercing scream before collapsing to her knees and clutching her hand, looking to him in fear for her life as if he would take some kind of pity on her. 

“Tsk tsk tsk, should’ve just listened to me.” Aries said, walking over to her and squatting to get eye level with her, watching as her eyes began to water up from the terror and pain she was feeling. He ran his right forefingers across her jaw, the action almost intimate. He stopped under her chin and tilted her head up towards his. Leaning in for what she guessed to be a kiss until he grabbed her by the wrist with his left hand and threw her to the other side of the room, hearing a crack of what he assumed to be one bone or another from the impact. “Now look what you’ve gone and made me do. You brought this on yourself you know.”

“What do you want from me?” Maria managed to scream through the sobs of pain. Aries chuckled, taking long strides to her and kicking her roughly in the ribs, hearing another crack. If he did too much she would pass out from the pain, or she would have a punctured lung from her ribs. The goal wasn’t to kill her, per se. The goal was to reap her. Maria looked in his eyes to try and find any sign of remorse or sympathy, instead she was met with the inhuman orange glow of something else. “What-”

“You have a contract over your head, and I’m simply here to fulfill that contract.” Aries explained, it wasn’t too much of a loss for him, not like she could tell anyone. She’d be dead in minutes anyway. He sat her up by her shoulders and placed a tender kiss on her forehead, an action he did for almost all of his contracts, unsure of when exactly he started. The action itself served as something of a kiss of death before he truly went for the kill. He looked over her tearstained features, finding that she was actually rather beautiful. “As much as it doesn’t pain me to do this, I have to.”

Aries then grabbed her throat and squeezed with immense pressure, something no human would be able to do with little ease. Shortly after he saw her begin to turn red from lack of oxygen, he reached a hand to her chest and reached through, as if there wasn’t a barrier of muscle and bone separating her organs from him. When he pulled his hand back out there was a bright ball in it. She watched in horror as she slowly began to lose any and all control of her body, falling limp in front of her killer. Aries took out a small vial and stuffed the ball in there and pocketed it to send to Fane later. The job of being a debt collector was never clean or kind, but it was enough to keep him out of his own debt.


	4. Chapter 4

Dionysus, unlike his brother, always had an optimistic outlook on life. He tried to find the good in everyone. There wasn’t much he could complain about, he had a good life. Even with the knowledge of what his brother was doing, he still looked to find the good in him. When he wasn’t busy trying to change Aries’s mind on his current lifestyle, he was hanging around his girlfriend, Charlotte. She was his anchor in the sea of life, his constant in the ever changing world. Now no one knows how he’s been able to afford it, but his apartment was nothing short of luxurious. Whenever he was asked he always responded with something similar to “a blessing from the gods”. 

The most well known thing about him though, was that he was seen as attractive by most people. Not a day would go by when someone wasn’t hitting on him. He didn’t have any problems with it, he didn’t understand why people thought about him that way, but it wasn’t an issue. What was an issue was when he didn’t quite understand what people were getting at when they flirted with him sometimes, which would lead to people getting upset with him. He didn’t do it on purpose, and always tried to make up for it. 

Dionysus was always a bit of a dunce, he had his moments when he knew exactly what was going on, but most of the time he was out of the loop. The one thing he made sure to keep tabs on and stay informed on was his brother. His brother was the main reason he was in the situation he was right now after all, he felt as though he should thank him for what he gained from it but on the same note, he wanted to save him from the path he was already on. As if it were even possible, he had hope it was. Ever since his mother, he had abandonment issues and was worried that he would lose his brother and he would never come back to him. 

However today, his biggest issue to deal with was planning on introducing his girlfriend to his dad. His dad lived outside of the city in a smaller town and it was roughly a 45 minute drive with no traffic. He had to plan on if he was going to be doing it this weekend or next weekend or even tomorrow. The phone ringing pulled him out of his thoughts, he searched for where he might have put it before realizing it was still in his pocket, something that happened frequently. “Hello? Dionysus speaking.”

“Dionysus? It’s Amphitrite, I need to talk to you.”

“About what? Our brunch isn’t scheduled for another week.” Dionysus said looking at the calendar hung on the wall in which the next tuesday was circled in bright red ink. “Is it about a therapy session?”   
  


“A little,” Amphitrite began, “it’s more about your brother’s sessions.” What would she have to say to him about his brother’s sessions? Wasn’t she supposed to keep it a secret or something? Dionysus was almost confident that he wasn’t supposed to know what the two of them talked about. “He hasn’t been showing up to them and I think he might be engaging in self destructive behavior again.”

“Like the smoking?”

“Maybe, or possibly worse. I don’t think he would engage in something more physically harming than smoking or drinking but I can’t say it wouldn’t be unlikely.” She explained to him as he listened intently, he was always worried about his younger brother, especially when it came to these things. But he knew there had to have been a few things that he was keeping from her, like his “condition”. Of course, Dionysus suffered from a similar condition but not in the same way and he didn’t tell anyone about it, so he figured it’d be best if Aries told her on his own terms. “Of course if you see him I’d appreciate it if you would remind him of our sessions, but I’d also greatly appreciate if you could monitor his behavior a bit for me.”

“Oh absolutely, I could absolutely do that for you Ammie.”

He heard her let out a light laugh from the other end of the phone, her laugh was melodic and he enjoyed hearing it. It was something of a sound he’d gotten used to after knowing her for years, she was always so bubbly and giddy whenever she wasn’t talking about a serious subject, he liked that about her. She was a ray of sunshine in the dark world that involved Aries. He hung up after exchanging goodbyes and put his phone back in his pocket. He looked out the window at the fairly clear sky, it wasn’t too late for him to go for his morning run, but upon looking down at the sidewalk he saw there was more foot traffic than there was when he would usually take his morning runs. Today would have to be the one day when he wasn’t able to get cardio in at his scheduled time.

Instead of dwelling on it, he went into the kitchen to make a late breakfast of eggs and bacon. The cold chill of the fridge was a feeling he quite enjoyed in contrast to his usually warm body. Despite wearing just a pair of sweatpants he was still incredibly warm for it being nine in the morning. He grabbed out what he would need and got to cooking.


	5. Chapter 5

Aries was beside himself, he was meant to be meeting with his brother today. He was presented with two options, leave and not meet or suffer through and deal with it. The sun was shining on the outside table of the café he was sat at, this kind of meeting wasn’t the kind Aries favored, he preferred more private and professional ones. He watched for Dionysus as he waited. A few times the waitress came over to ask if he was ready to order. “Not yet, my dear” was his usual response, drawing a light sigh from the younger woman. 

One of the perks of his gift was that he had incredible hearing, allowing him to hear useful information to use against people at a later date. However what he was most interested in at the time, was what his little waitress was talking about. He overheard her talking about him to her coworker. “Do you see him? He’s like, deadly hot.”

“He looks like he’s thirty, Lil, you’re only eighteen. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“But look at him, he’s built like a bad boy. That scar on his face? Oh my god.” She swooned, Aries shot her a smirk and a side glance. He watched as she continued to jump around her coworker with joy, overwhelmed that he noticed her. Of course he would never act upon it but he always found amusement in toying with people like her. Just as he was about to continue to eavesdrop on her conversation, his brother sat down. 

“So, you wanna order anything or just talk?” He asked, leaning back in his chair. He took a look around and surveyed the atmosphere. He was pleasantly surprised by the lack of people despite it being a Saturday morning. He looked over at the girl who was fawning over Aries and caused her to be taken aback by the man who had joined. He motioned for her to come over and she did a double take, looking around and then pointing to herself for confirmation. He nodded with a kind smile and she made her way over to him. “Hi sweetheart, do you think you’re ready to take an order? Or do you need a minute?”

She fumbled around her apron and pulled out a pad and pen, waiting intently for him to give an order. He looked at the menu for a minute and decided, “I’ll have an iced tea and he’ll have-“

“Black coffee.” Aries cut him off, handing his menu to the waitress. “That’ll be all for now. I’ll call you back if I need anything.” She nodded and scampered off to get their drinks. The two men watched her idly as they waited for her to get out of earshot. “So-“

“That was rude.”

“What?” He asked, partially unaware of what his brother was referring to.

“You shooed her away like she was beneath you or something.” Dionysus said sternly, he had learned from his father that you should always respect people no matter how they were related to you. It was something he applied daily in life, sadly his brother didn’t share the same sentiment. “Anyway, Amphitrite wanted me to check on you.”

“And she couldn’t have done it herself?” He asked condescendingly as he turned to see if the waitress was almost done with their order. Turning back to Dionysus, he was met with a disappointed look. “What? She’s my therapist, not you.”

“She wants me to make sure you’re not doing anything self destructive. I see you more than she does.”

“Isn’t everything I do self destructive? At this point there isn’t a damn thing I do that doesn’t harm me in some way or another.” His brother watched him cautiously, waiting for some form of outburst like he’d done at previous meetings the two had before. When nothing came he took that as a sign that he was okay to continue. 

“And the smoking and drinking?”

“Yes, I’ve picked both habits back up, not so much the drinking though.” The waitress who took their orders earlier was waiting next to them, holding their drinks. Aries looked at her and took his mug, making sure to brush his fingers across the back of her hand, watching her shiver lightly at the touch. “Thank you dear, I appreciate it.” 

She stood still for a moment before realizing she was still holding Dionysus’s drink. She quickly set it down and nodded, quickly leaving again, presumably for good that time. “What was that about?”

“It’s fun to watch them get giddy over things they know they can’t have. I’m a luxury few can afford, you know.”

“Mhm, sure.” Dionysus said dismissively, sipping his tea as he looked to the side, not missing his brother’s look of shock and anger. “I’m not saying you’re not a luxury, I’m just saying, you’re a Gucci bag rather than a Louis Vitton.” 

“Excuse you, I prefer Armani.”

“Point is, you shouldn’t do that, you shouldn’t play with her heart like that.” Aries raised an eyebrow and took a sip of his coffee, looking at his brother over the rim of the mug. Dionysus stared at him blankly, waiting for some form of verbal response. 

“Oh come on, she knows she doesn’t have a chance. She’s eighteen, I’m twenty seven, I’d prefer to  _ not _ catch a case.” The two men turned to face the girls and saw them gossiping again, occasionally stealing glances. “They’re talking about us.”

“Yeah? What are they saying?”

Aries held up a finger and listened intently to their conversation. The former girl, Lil, was still fawning over Aries but her coworker had joined in fawning over Dionysus. “Oh my god, he’s ripped! I just- do you see him?”

“I know! They’re both so hot. Do you think we could get their numbers?” 

“They want our numbers, how are you gonna break the news to ‘em?” He explained, smugly crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back. Dionysus looked over to the girls pitifully, unsure of what he was going to say. “You’re gonna have to say something to them, at least the tall one anyway. The short one seems to be after me.”

He looked at her as he spoke and caught her eye, sending a wink and a smile her way before turning back to his brother. “I’ll just tell her I’m taken, that’ll be fine, right?”

“Well she knows what you look like, I’m sure if she were incredibly interested she’d just stalk for your Instagram account.”

“She’d need my name though, and she doesn’t know it.” Aries looked at his watch, 10:17. He had an appointment he had to make later that day that he absolutely could not be late for, luckily he had a bit of time he could spare for his brother. He took a deep breath and looked at him blankly, “What? She doesn’t.”

“Since I’m the one paying for the bill, whomever comes to give us the check will surely either see my name on my license,” Aries began as he tossed his open wallet over to his brother, his name  _ Aries John Dagon _ and his picture staring back up at him. “Or on my debit card, or hell, even my signature on their copy of the receipt.”

“Well sure, but that’s you. Not me.”

“Oh of course how silly of me, now keep in mind those two know about each other’s fascination with us, so let’s say the taller one brings us the check, she gets my name and gives it to the shorter one.” He turned to look around to see if they were still ogling them and found that they were off taking other orders. “She’d go and look for any social media I may have, finding my workplace and my Instagram account, on which I follow you. Then she shares the account with her friend and you have a new admirer.”

“You seem to know a lot about how that would work. How much are you willing to wager it works?” Dionysus asked mischievously, leaning forward with his elbows on the table, smiling at his brother. It wasn’t often when the two would make bets but when they did they were competitive over them, and Aries usually won. “I’ll bet ten bucks it doesn’t work. And no influencing them with your demon stuff.”

“Oh I promise I won’t, as long as you keep your godly bullshit to yourself.” The two men shook hands, agreeing on the terms. Aries grabbed his wallet back and called the waitress over by whistling and motioning his fingers in a beckoning manner. 

“That’s a bit rude don’t you-“

“Yessir?” The younger woman came up to them and waited for him to give her an order, she fluttered her eyelashes a bit when he looked her in the eye in an attempt to look more sultry. “What is it I can help you with?”

“While I’m sure there’s  _ many _ things you could help my brother and I with, we’ll settle for the bill for now.” The two men watched as she pulled out the smaller book and transferred their orders over to it, scribbling down a total and parroting it off to them, he handed her his debit card and smiled kindly, watching as she walked back to the desk to ring him up, bringing her coworker with her. “See? She’s taking her friend with her, presumably to inform her of not only my name but our relationship with each other.”

“I dunno, I still don’t think that means that-” A notification from Dionysus’s phone cut him off, he pulled it out and checked what it was. He saw that someone had followed him on Instagram. “Well I’ll be damned. You were right.” Aries waited patiently as his brother handed over the ten dollars that he had rightfully earned. He pocketed the cash and watched the two girls finish the transaction. “How did you know?”

“I know how women work, it’s one of the things I pride myself upon.” He explained dryly, not terribly interested in telling his brother  _ exactly  _ how he knew what they were going to do. The smaller woman came back and handed him the receipt and his card back, watching his hands closely as he gently put it back into its rightful pocket in his wallet. “Now, my dear, is there anything you need of me?”

The possible suggestive nature of the question made a blush rise to her cheeks, causing her to let out an awkward giggle. “Well, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go on a date later?”

Aries smiled to himself as he stood, towering over her by almost a foot. He set a hand on her shoulder and spoke, “I’m sure you’ve already got the information you need to contact me. Keep in touch, will you?” She nodded intently before she ran back to her coworker. Dionysus stood and looked at his brother skeptically, letting out a huff. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment to keep.” 


End file.
